Heartless
by EmeralDiamonds
Summary: Wicked show fic. An old grudge and a cold heart could spell destruction for the City of Emeralds.
1. Chapter 1

Authors' Note: This is a sequel to the show _Wicked_ co-authored by **Daydreamer731 **and **Fiyero. **It _is _intended to start out vague and get more detailed later, so don't worry if you're confused.

**Spoiler Warning**: If you haven't seen _Wicked_ and don't want the ending revealed…don't read this fic. That said…don't blame us if you ruin the surprise for yourself.

Disclaimer: We don't own _Wicked_ or _The Wizard of Oz_ or any of the characters for that matter. They are the property of L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire and Stephen Schwartz.

Chapter 1

The monkeys simply would not leave Kiamo Ko. No one quite knew why they had taken up residence there, but once they had appeared, they had refused to leave. He had tried everything he could think of to drive them away as their noise was aggravating, especially by night, but the more he wracked his brain for a solution, the more it seemed like the monkeys were silently laughing at him from their perches on the rafters of the ancient castle.

"You're free now!" he yelled, getting up from his seat in the great hall and throwing a rock at the nearest winged beast on his way to check on the troops' progress. They had to hurry if they were to leave by morning.

He stepped outside into the moonlight, his spirits lifting a little at the sight of all the Winkies that had arrived over the past few days, sleeping in tents and barracks, or even just on scraps of spare blankets around Kiamo Ko. Good, very good. They were almost ready.

"Sir - " He turned to see one of the Winkie leaders, nervously playing with his hat. He narrowed his eyes at the man. "What have I told you and the others to call me?" he said, a cold metallic sound to his voice.

"I'm sorry, Highness," said the man, bowing low. "We are nearly ready for the voyage. Most of the Winkies are excited about this, ready to finally take action... but, Highness, there are others that are being slightly... shall we say... rebellious?"

He frowned, and the man seemed to grow even smaller.

"Rebellious…how?"

"They-uh—they don't completely trust you, Highness. There's some…some talk of mutiny."

He took a deep, shaking breath, glaring at the already trembling soldier.

"Take me to them."

The leader fell to his knees. "Oh Highness, I do not wish to go against your orders! The rebellious ones have threatened a slow, agonizing death if I take you to them!"

He reached down and grabbed the leader by the throat, lifting him up into the air. The man choked and tried to scream in terror. "And if you don't take me to them," he said, "your death will be slower and more agonizing than those that have threatened you could even begin to imagine." He opened his hand and allowed the man to drop to the ground. The weight of the Winkie leader sent a cloud of dust into the air, nearly invisible in the twilight.

The leader scrambled to his feet, ghostly pale in the whitish light. The long shadows cast dark circles under his eyes, turning the man into a hideous spectre. He motioned for his king to follow, then ran off toward one of the encampments, all but vanishing into the dark. The king quickened his step, wincing as his joints creaked mercilessly. He had no stamina anymore.

A moment later they arrived at a circle of Winkies who were huddled around a small campfire, murmuring things to one another. Their voices weren't meant to be heard by others. The king took a deep breath, opening his mouth to speak. An owl hooted somewhere in a tree nearby.

"What's this I hear," said the king, "of a rebellion?" The whispers halted and those around the fire looked up with wide-eyes. He saw one of the men send an icy glare at the leader, who ducked behind his king. The glaring man stood. "Sir - "

"Highness," the king corrected.

"Sir," the man repeated, firm on his ground. "We feel it is... not right. To simply storm through the City. If we gradually enter over the course of a month or two, we can take them by surprise."

"That gives the sorceress more time to see what's coming."

"It will all be recorded in the Book of Records anyway," said the Winkie leader meekly, deciding it was better to support his king on this matter.

The King held his axe high above his head.

"Swear your loyalty to me," he demanded in a booming voice. "Then at least you will not die traitors."

The men cowered closer to the fire, and one of them grabbed a flaming stick, holding it in front of him like a smoldering spear.

The King laughed.

"You know that will not harm me."

The axe swung and the man ducked. These actions were repeated a few times before, with a mighty shout, the king threw the axe straight at the man. He yelled and leapt to the side. The head of the axe plunged deep into the earth, but the man failed to escape the danger, for the fire upon the branch he held reached the curly mass of hair upon his head. He screamed in pain as the flames licked at his scalp and one of the women traitors whimpered and blocked her eyes.

The king laughed as the man screamed in pain and looked at the others. "Anyone else care to refuse to swear their loyalty?"

The group of rebels scattered into the darkness, leaving the now blackened man writhing in pain on the ground. The King turned on the man who was still hiding behind him.

"Bring them back to me."

The man shuddered and looked longingly over his shoulder as though he too were about to flee. Then he bowed deeply and squared his shoulders before setting off after the group. There was a small gust of wind, and the King looked up to see one of the monkeys sitting in a tree a few feet away, its eyes glowing yellow in the darkness. He felt like it was watching him.

The king walked through the fire, smothering it. The red flames licked out from beneath his boots, but he stomped them out, grinning. "I stomp the flames out as I will stomp Oz out," he said. He bent over and, with slight difficulty and many creaks from his body, pulled the axe from the ground. The monkey took flight and the king watched as it vanished into the darkened sky. "Good," he said with a smirk. "That's one less of those winged monsters around here."

The man returned after a few more moments of silence and threw himself to the ground. "Oh Highness, they've gone!" he said. "I'm so sorry, they vanished into the campgrounds. Please don't kill me, Highness, I did reveal their identities to you!"

The king looked at the man for a moment. The Winkie's pathetic cries for mercy were sickening. He swung the axe menacingly close to the man's head, then turned his back on him, beckoning offhandedly.

"Come."

"Wh-where?" stammered the man.

"Follow me."

The king turned and went back into Kiamo Ko, the man scuttling along at his heels. It reminded him of that little dog. That hideous yappy little thing. It had been all he could do not to cleave _it _in two with his axe.

They reached the inside of Kiamo Ko and the king stopped and pointed to the monkeys still perched on the rafters.

"Remove them," he said to the man, knowing it was impossible. "Then I will spare your life."

"Y-yes, Highness," said the Winkie. He turned and pointed to one of the monkeys. "Hey you! Get out!" The monkeys chattered and the king realized how much it sounded like they were laughing at the Winkie.

"I will leave you to your task," said the king. He started down the hall toward his room, a place comfortable for a man of his state and stature. He sat upon a silver chair and rolled his eyes as one of the monkeys flew in and sat upon the windowsill. "Honestly, can't you - you things leave me alone?"

He smirked as he realized what the monkey held in his hands - a shred of pink material. He stood and uncurled the small fingers and grasped the object in his hands.

The monkey let go of the fabric and cocked its head, looking at him quizzically. The king couldn't help thinking that the monkey knew something he didn't. He picked at the pink fabric, tearing it to shreds between his clumsy fingers. He looked out the large window at the campfires below, glowing like stars on the dark ground below.

"At last I shall have my revenge on Glonda," the king said. "Oh no - I'm sorry, Miss Glinda! Did I pronounce your name wrong?" A menacing laugh emerged from Boq's mouth and rang through the night air.

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	2. Chapter 2

Authors' Note: Thanks for all the great reviews!

Chapter 2

Glinda the Good gazed at her reflection. For a moment, Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands seemed to be gazing back, but she knew it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. She sighed and sat upon the bed, spreading the skirt of her nightgown around her. Things hadn't been the same since Elphaba's death. She had blown the heartless Dorothy girl out of Oz as fast as possible, hardly able to face the girl to explain how to return to Kansas. If only Oz knew the truth - Elphaba wasn't the Witch. Dorothy was.

A fluttering noise from the corner of the room made Glinda jump, and she turned away from the looking glass for a moment. Chistery was perched on the table on the other side of the room, peering down at her Book of Records. He stared in rapt attention for a moment, then looked up quickly and began beckoning furiously to her. Glinda sighed in annoyance; she hated being interrupted while brushing her hair. She glared at the monkey for a moment, then failing to get a reaction set down her ivory hairbrush and went to see why the little creature was so agitated.

Glinda's brow furrowed. The darkness filling the room failed to let her see the words being scrolled on the pages of the Book of Records. She took her wand and magicked a lit candle to appear. It floated over the Book, flying back and forth as she read. The magic of the candle prevented it from dripping wax onto the parchment. The words appeared as she read:

_30 May 1900, __2:16 AM_

_Movement in Winkie Camp, Kiamo Ko, Eastern Winkie Country._

_Troops preparing for invasion of __Emerald__City__._

_Mutiny among small faction, chase pending. _

Invasion of the Emerald City? Why in Oz would the Winkies be invading the Emerald City? A light bulb lit in Glinda's head for the first time in her life - the Grimmerie.

Chistery let out a squawk as Glinda flew into action. She threw herself to the floor and pulled out a pink suitcase. She quickly opened the silver locks with the key she wore on the chain round her neck and opened it. She dug through yards of fabric in pink, lavender, sky blue, and butter yellow, along with an old portrait of her mother and father and a pink rose Fiyero had given her when they went to the Ozdust. The contents of the suitcase now spread on the floor, Glinda looked up in alarm at Chistery.

"Where is it?" she cried.

The monkey fluttered to her shoulder and she shuddered in disgust. She couldn't understand why Elphaba had been so fond of the little beast, he looked and smelled almost as hideous as the dog had. Chistery scuttled down Glinda's arm and lit on the inside rim of the suitcase. Glinda wrinkled her nose and tried to wave the monkey away.

"Ok, ok, you've done your job, now leave me in peace!" she shouted at Chistery.

The monkey looked at her with an expression alarmingly like a pout.

"All right, yes I know I asked you."

Chistery stepped inside the suitcase and began feeling around the inside lining of the suitcase. Glinda felt sick.

"Stop that, you stinky little beast. You're going to get my things all dirty!"

The winged monkey at last found what he was looking for a produced a tiny leather strap connected to the top of the lining of the suitcase. He chattered and Glinda took the strap and tugged on it. The lining fell open and the Grimmerie fell out. Glinda hugged it to her chest. "Thank you so much, Chistery! Now… what to do with it? It's got to be gone before the Winkies get here… I wonder who's leading them? They don't have an official leader…"

Chistery chattered some more and flew over to the Book of Records again. Glinda glanced at the pages, which still had the candle floating above it.

Glinda just stared for a moment, hardly daring to believe her eyes.

"Nick Chopper…" she gasped. "Who ever would have guessed. He always seemed so harmless…and good-hearted. Especially after he believed the Wizard gave him one." She turned to Chistery and dabbed at her eyes, trying not to cry. "Oh, why did I let him go?"

The monkey just grinned at her, as though mocking her for talking to a semi-sentient Animal.

The woman looked around her. All she could see for miles was sand, gray sand. A black cloth was wrapped around her head to keep the wind from blowing sand into her face. She turned to the man beside her.

"How far are we going?" she asked him. He knew where the ancient temple ruins were located, thank Oz. If she had been in the Fliaan deserts alone, she would have been lost and dead.

The man shrugged clumsily, all his movements greatly exaggerated.

"It should only be a few miles more. I haven't been there since I was a boy."

The woman shivered in the cold wind. They were only a few miles outside of Oz, but already it felt like they were walking in another world. The Fliaan deserts were a far cry from the vibrant colors she was accustomed to. The landscape wasn't just colorless, she thought, it seemed more like it sucked the color out of anyone or anything that dared venture into it.

The colorless deserts reminded her of the house… the house. A bit of peeling paint was still left on it and the boards had gone gray, exactly as the sands around her. The sole window that had been in the house had a giant crack in the glass, perhaps from the girl banging on it too hard, or the dog scratching on it. Or possibly the crash landing on the woman, the Witch of the East, Nessarose… her sister.

Elphaba's mouth had gone dry and she was beginning to taste the sand, despite the cloth purposely placed for the specific reason of preventing that. The man tripped over a branch that had somehow wandered in from a tree from Oz. She bent over and lifted his light body. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Fiyero told her. "Nothing can hurt me - I'm straw now."

"Yes, I know." Silence bestowed its awkward self upon her. "I'm sorry about that."

"I've told you time and time again, it's better than being dead."

"Yes, but it's not better than what I tried to do. If only I hadn't been so stupid…"

"Shh, Elphie, stop it." Fiyero draped an arm lightly around her shoulders. "You're only going to make yourself feel worse. And the only thing that can hurt me is you hurting yourself."

Elphaba snorted.

"What?"

"You're still so…_you_."

A tiny speck appeared far in the distance. Elphaba squinted. "That's it," said Fiyero. "That dot the size of Glinda's brain, way out there - that's the temples."

"What were they built for?" the green woman asked.

"No one seems to know," Fiyero answered slowly. "There are legends of an ancient parent civilization out here, but there's no sign of any writing or records of any kind near the temples. And no one's really sure how they were built, either."

Elphaba looked skeptical.

"And you're sure we can survive out here? I mean what are we going to do about food?"

There are trees," said Fiyero, "the only plants around for miles, that bear meals for fruit - breakfast trees, lunch trees, and dinner trees. Whatever you desire to eat for your meal, that's what appears on the trees." Elphaba gave a look that told Fiyero she didn't believe him. "I swear on my honor as Prince of the Arjiki!"

Elphaba narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's not your honor I doubt, Yero, my hero. But if you really are brainless as you say…."

Fiyero looked genuinely hurt, and Elphaba decided to shut her mouth rather than chance causing any more damage. They continued on in silence for nearly another hour, until the temple ruins were just a few feet away, looming up like the skeleton of some giant dead beast.

Fiyero made his way around the old bones, but Elphaba walked through them, examining them. "Fascinating," she said. "I wonder what animal this was…" Fiyero shuddered and looked up at the sky. "It's so clear… but so gray. Not a cloud, not a bird, not a - what's that?" Elphaba turned to squint up at the sky.

An abnormally large bird was flying towards them. But as it grew closer and closer, Elphaba realized what it really was. "That's no bird! It's a… a flying monkey! Fiyero, oh Fiyero! It's Chistery!"

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	3. Chapter 3

Daydreamer731: authors' note...yes, no?

Fiyero: just a little one

Daydreamer731: which says....?

Fiyero: We really appreciate all the reviews! Review again so we can get excited again!

Daydreamer731: ::rolls eyes::

Fiyero: dont ask me!

Fiyero: you make it up

Daydreamer731: ::cackles::

Fiyero: dont forget, i can always change it

As you can see…writing a co-authored fic is anything but easy. Please give us credit and uh…review? Enjoy!

Chapter 3

"Chistery? Chistery, what are you doing here?" Elphaba asked as the monkey lit on her shoulder and began patting her hair. The monkey just stared at her for a moment, then grabbed the hat off her head fluttered into the air, pointing insistently back in the direction of Oz.

"You know we can't go there," said Fiyero impatiently, laughing as Elphaba jumped for her hat.

Elphaba looked the monkey over before noticing a piece of parchment, crumpled into a ball and held tightly into the winged beast's hand. She took the paper from Chistery and he nodded toward the stuffed man in greeting. Elphaba unfolded the paper and glanced over it. Her eyes darted back and forth as she read.

_Help!_

_This Glinda the Good in the Palace of the __Emerald__City__! We are being attacked and there is an extremely valuable item at risk. Losing the item could be destruction for City of __Emeralds__, or even all of Oz and its surroundings! Please, whoever you are, come help me!_

_Glinda the Good_

"Valuable item?" Fiyero asked curiously, peering over her shoulder. "What would Glinda have that's valuable? Her tiara?"

"The Grimmerie," mused Elphaba. "She can't mean anything else."

"But who else knows she has it?"

"Depends," said the green woman. "If she's learned to use it in this time, which is likely, she could have performed a spell or two and anyone in Oz could know." She turned and looked the winged monkey in the eye. "Chistery, is this serious?" The monkey's head bobbed up and down. "Is it worth revealing we're alive?" The beast scratched his head a little as though thinking and then bobbed his head again. Elphaba straightened and looked at Fiyero.

"Elphaba, we can't put our entire existence at risk because a monkey who only partly understands what we say says it's worth it!"

"Fiyero, Glinda is in trouble, Oz is in trouble, and there isn't anyone else that can help. If there were, Chistery would have known better than to fetch us rather than that person. We have to go, Fiyero."

Fiyero looked doubtful.

"Let me go then. You stay here. At least I can't be harmed. I'm not willing to put you in danger."

"Oh, and you think I'll be safer here, in a strange country, alone?" Elphaba shot back, her temper flaring.

Fiyero took her by the shoulders and looked her calmly in the eye.

"Elphaba, be rational about this. The moment you show your face back in Oz, you'll have a mob of angry people out to kill you again. And there won't be any escaping this time!"

"Then I won't show my face," she said slowly. Fiyero looked at her curiously. "A veil, Fiyero! I'll wear a veil! All of Oz will just think you're the Scarecrow, and I can wear gloves and a veil! They'll never know it's us. We'll help Glinda, instruct her, and then flee again." Fiyero still looked unwilling. "Please Fiyero, we need to do this."

Fiyero took her by the shoulders, looking at her pleadingly.

"Elphaba, it's a good idea, it is…but….do you really think you'll be able to keep up your disguise long enough to do any good? I mean…it'll probably take us a while and Glinda can't be _that _clueless."

Elphaba snorted.

"Fiyero, of course I'll be able to keep it up long enough. 'Glinda' and 'clueless' are synonymous."

Fiyero's painted face was wrinkled with frustration. "Elphaba, it's just so dangerous…"

"And living out here isn't?" she argued. "There's no water supply, no company. We'll drive ourselves mad from boredom, Fiyero! We've got to set things right in Oz. I suspect this mess was partly our fault so we need to help fix it."

A sigh escaped Fiyero's lips and he threw up his straw arms. "Fine! We'll go back after all this traveling." A smug look came over his face. "On one condition."

Elphaba put her hands on her hips. "And what would that be?"

"You find a way to get us back to Oz."

Elphaba grinned back condescendingly.

"Easy. We'll fly."

Fiyero looked at her incredulously.

"Just one problem with that…you don't have your broom anymore."

Elphaba glared at him.

"No need to remind me of that _wonderful _fact."

"Then what are you going to do?"

Elphaba took him by the shoulders and leaned in until her forehead just barely touched his.

"Yero, my hero, you forget. Just because I gave up the Grimmerie doesn't mean I don't remember anything from it. That was an ordinary broom with a levitation spell on it. I can fly on anything I please."

"Like what?" Fiyero swung an arm around, gesturing to the ancient ruins. "There's nothing here! The ruins are to enormous and the only other thing is that pile of old bones." A grin spread across Elphaba's face. "Oh Elphaba, you can't expect us to fly on a bone!"

Elphaba ran to the pile and selected a fat, long bone. She tossed it onto the gray sand, fell to her knees, and began waving her arms about as she chanted. "Amentate ah tum ah tum amentate ah tum ah tum…" The bone slowly ascended into the air. Elphaba stood and whirled around, a triumphant look upon her face. She grabbed the bone and held it out to Fiyero. "Climb on!"

Fiyero just stared at her, utterly flabbergasted.

"But…but…you just…that…that's a bone…"

Elphaba laughed at him.

"Yes, I know."

"And you just made it….fly…"

"Yes, I know."

"But…bones…don't….fly…"

"And neither do brooms or monkeys, now come on!" Elphaba saddled the bone and Fiyero reluctantly climbed on behind her. She pulled up and the bone lifted in the air. Their feet had hardly parted from the sand before the bone crumbled into dust and they went sprawling to the desert below.

"Well," said Fiyero, "now what?"

Elphaba glared at him.

"What?" asked Fiyero.

"Just because you were right doesn't mean you have to gloat. It's not a requirement, you know."

Fiyero threw up his hands in frustration.

"I wasn't-"

"Yes, dearie, you most definitely were."

"I _wasn't_," Fiyero protested lamely. "Elphie, come on…"

"The least you could do is admit it when you're wrong."

"But I was right!"

"But it was wrong of you to gloat just because you were right."

"Elphie! Are we going to Oz or not?"

Elphie sat on the ground. "Yes… but there's no way how now." Chistery came over and began nibbling on Elphaba's ear. She giggled. "Stop it Chistery… Chistery… Chistery! Fiyero, Chistery's strong enough to lift me! He can take us to Oz!"

"But there's two of us, Elphie."

"You barely weigh an ounce! Chistery, take hold of me!" The monkey grabbed Elphaba around her middle and lifted her into the air. Elphaba grabbed Fiyero by the collar and commanded Chistery to take them to Oz. The monkey's wings flapped and he flew through the air, headed towards their old country and the City of Emeralds.

The mirror had a large ugly crack running down the middle of it. Glinda wasn't quite sure when it had happened, but the rebel forces had been shaking the castle walls with a battering ram since early morning. Glinda had used the Grimmerie to put a strengthening spell on the walls and doors, but most of the windows were already shattered and she was trapped inside the castle with little more to do but sit back and wait for her fate to come to her.

She bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. First Nessarose, then Fiyero, then Elphaba, and finally her. Fate was out for them, she didn't want them to survive. Why, Glinda did not know.

Shouts were heard outside and a woman's scream. Glinda stood to go the window, but the shaking floors threw her to the ground with a short, sharp yelp of pain as the wind was knocked from her.

She raised her head slowly, grimacing with pain. There was a shard of glass embedded in her knee, though she wasn't sure where it had come from. She pulled it out, hissing with pain, and wrapped a clean handkerchief around her knee, then looked around and tried to reorient herself. She saw almost instantly where the glass had come from then. The mirror was entirely shattered and was lying in pieces on the floor.

Glinda started to cry again, but then she heard something banging against the window. She limped over to it and lifted the shade cautiously, then gasped at what she saw.

"Wh-who are you?"

A figure clad in a long dress of forest green velvet stepped out. She wore black gloves upon her hands and a black veil over her face. A companion stepped out as well, though the companion Glinda easily recognized. "Oh, you're the Scarecrow!" she said. "The one who traveled with Dorothy! How are your brains?"

"Very well, thank you," the Scarecrow returned.

Glinda turned to the woman. "And who are you?"

"My name is Fae," she said. "I am a good friend of the Scarecrow's. We have come to help." Fae's voice was familiar, but Glinda couldn't quite place it.

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	4. Chapter 4

Fiyero: For authors' note, just put the usual

Daydreamer731: lol ok

Authors' Note: The usual.

Chapter 4

Boq trembled with laughter as he watched the Winkies shake the Emerald Palace. The Grimmerie was close by; he could almost feel its power. The thing that worried him was the windows were still together - not the tiniest crack was visible in the thinnest pane of glass. He began to circle the Palace, his tin feet crunching the dried grass below.

He looked the building up and down. It was of solid emerald, built from slabs of the jewel much like marble. Some windows were stained glass with shades of green, but most were transparent as windows should be.

Something caught his eye, way up high in one of the tallest emerald towers. A window had been shattered, with only a few remains of the glass sticking to the window frame. He held up his hand to the nearby Winkies. "Halt!" he cried over their shouting voices. "That's enough! We've done enough damage to get into the Palace."

Boq clenched his solid fingers together in a rock-like fist and smiled. Ordinarily he liked to think of himself as an exceedingly sensitive and compassionate man—but when it came to the Witches, he had no qualms about taking what was rightfully his. They'd robbed him, all three of them. They'd taken every shred of dignity he'd had, right down to his very being. He'd put up with the wretched little girl for as long as he had for one purpose—revenge on Elphaba. And after all they'd been through, he hadn't gotten the chance. It was all because of those blasted flying monkeys! Boq turned and fastened his iron grip on the shoulder of one of the Winkies he'd made a general that morning.

"Prepare the troops to enter the Palace."

Two dead, one to go. Those were the only words that slipped in and out, in and out, through Boq's head. He grinned evilly, a haze falling into his eyes as he dreamed out slowly choking Glinda with his tin hands. He snapped to attention when he realized he needed to pick one of the Winkies to scale the Palace walls and enter through the window. He looked around - there were a few children nearby, and he spotted a boy of fourteen or fifteen years.

"You there!" he called. "Boy!"

The boy snapped to attention. "Yes, Highness?"

"What's your name? Never mind. See the window up there, the shattered one?"

"Yes, Highness."

"You are to climb up the walls, through the windows, make your way to the front door, and let your fellow Winkies into the Palace. Can you manage that?"

"I'm not sure…"

"That was rhetorical!" roared Boq, grabbing the boy by the throat and shaking him as hard as he could. "You will climb up the walls!"

"But…I-I…can't!" stammered the boy.

Boq stared down at the child in disgust. How he reminded Boq of himself at that age…strange, he was almost glad that he would never go back to being so utterly boneless. There was power in metal, and being made of metal would make him the most powerful man in all of Oz.

The boy coughed and wheezed, but Boq just shook him harder. There was a sickening crunch of bones snapping, and the boy's head flopped lifelessly onto his chest. Boq let go and the boy fell to the ground in a heap. The tin man let out a roaring laugh.

A girl who looked to be a few years younger than the boy had been ran up and shook the boy's shoulders. She screamed and drew back in terror as she realized his state. The scream fell into sudden silence as Boq's cold hand wrapped around her neck. "Will you climb for me?" he asked, another rhetorical question.

"W-why should I?" the girl said. "You killed my brother!"

"And you shall receive the same fate if you don't climb - now will you or won't you?" Tears overflowing from the girl's eyes, she turned to the Palace and began searching for a ledge for her foot and a grip for her hand.

After a few moments of searching, the girl returned to Boq, tears streaming down her face.

"There's-there's no way to climb it. There must be some kind of spell on it."

"What?" roared Boq. "What do you mean?"

"The walls—they're slippery!"

She reminded him of the Dorothy, Boq thought, utterly repulsed at the realization. All she needed was the dog and she'd be a perfect replica. How many little brats can there be, he wondered.

Boq went to the wall of the Palace and attempted to take hold of it. Sure enough, his hand fell away as though he'd made a grab at air.

"There must be a spell," he thought aloud. "And there must be a way around that spell…" A light went on in the king's head. He took his axe and thrust the blade into the wall. It stuck, rooted deeply into the emeralds. He beckoned the girl over and she came, cautiously. She seized the axe handle and heaved herself up onto a windowsill. A low laugh emerged Boq's lips.

"Climb," he ordered.

"But…but…what if I fall?" asked the girl. "And what do I do once I get up there?"

"If you fall…don't fall," said Boq. "And once you get up there…kill everyone in the room. Then go down to the main doors and open them for us."

The girl collapsed into sobs.

"I c-c-can't kill anyone!" she wailed.

"If you cannot kill," said Boq, "you will be killed." The girl lost her footing suddenly and grasped at the open air for something to grab. Nothing came to reach and she fell to the ground with a crack and a scream of pain. Boq grinned and kicked her, causing her to whimper. "Get up and climb, you wretched brat!"

She collected herself and used the axe again for support. Ripping it from its place in the wall, she plunged it once again, higher this time. She pulled herself up and balanced on another windowsill. She yanked the axe out once again and threw it in once again.

Boq's eyes watched her cautiously. If she fell, her neck would snap and Boq would have to find a third child to climb the wall, and another way to get past the spell, for if she fell, his axe would most likely end up in the wall as well. She climbed higher still. His tin hand curled into a ball, his face lined with anxiety.

The girl slipped a little, but then caught herself. Boq caught his breath. She turned and looked back at him, then disappeared into the black depths of the castle interior. She had made it inside.

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	5. Chapter 5

Daydreamer731: you know what im about to ask lol

Fiyero: hmmm

Fiyero: i don't know

Fiyero: i have to be careful right now

Fiyero: cuz you'll put anything i say in the a/n

Authors' Note: Yes, dear readers, this is indeed it. Today is a sad day in Wicked-fic land…That's right, this is our last update for about another two weeks, due to the fact that we're both going to NY to see it. So until then…enjoy.

Chapter 5

There were noises coming from the outside the shattered window. Elphaba turned to look at Fiyero and Glinda. "We must leave," she said. "If someone finds us here, we're trapped. We need to get somewhere with multiple ways out."

Glinda eyed Elphaba suspiciously. "Why should I trust you?" said the blonde. "I've only just met you."

"You know me," said Fiyero. "You trust me. Why would I, the Scarecrow, join up with someone untrustworthy?"

"Well…," Glinda began, but interrupted herself with a scream of terror as a large axe flew through the air and settled itself in Fiyero's back. A girl followed the axe, seizing it before Elphaba could blink and slicing Fiyero's head clean from the rest of his body. Elphaba hurried to retrieve it.

"Are you all right?" she asked the head.

The girl screamed and burst into tears.

"I didn't mean to do it! I swear I didn't! He said he'd kill me if I didn't!"

"Relax," said Fiyero's head. "Just get a needle and some thread. A few stitches and I'll be good as knew!"

This only caused the girl to shriek louder and scramble under Glinda's pink-ruffled bed. Glinda sighed and went to the closet to retrieve her sewing kit while Elphaba continued staring at the head in shock.

"I'm fine, really!" said the head. "The perks of being a Scarecrow."

He winked at Elphaba.

Elphaba placed Fiyero's head beside his stuffed body and peered through her veil under the bed. "Hello?" she said. "My name is Fae… we won't hurt you, honestly. We'd just like to ask you something."

Two big, dark eyes peered back from the darkness. "I'm sorry for killing him," she whimpered.

"He's a Scarecrow," she informed the child. "In fact, he's _the_ Scarecrow."

The girl gasped. "Then… then he knows him."

Elphaba's eyes narrowed. "Knows who?"

"His Highness, the Ruler of the Winkies. He made all the grown-up Winkies realize they were sick of being looked down upon by the rest of Oz and now they're on a rampage to kill Glinda the Good - whoever that is - and steal the Grimmerie - whatever that is - and take over Oz."

"How do you know all this?" asked Elphaba, suddenly suspicious.

The girl looked scared and backed a little further under the edge of the bed.

"I-I…I was a servant girl at his palace. It was easy to spy on him, because he never paid any attention to me. When I hear what he was going to do, I—I…I followed him because I wanted to stop him. But now he's killed my brother and he wants me to kill you and there's nothing I can do about it!" The girl burst into tears again and retreated under the bed completely.

"Who is 'he?'" Elphaba asked softly. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know, but she knew she had to. "You said Fi - the Scarecrow knew him."

"We are forbidden to call him anything but 'Highness,'" said the girl. "I don't know his name."

"Then what is he? Is he human? Another Scarecrow?"

"He's a man… but not an ordinary man… he's made of tin."

If Elphaba hadn't already been crouched on the ground, she would have fallen over.

"Boq…" she whispered without thinking.

"What did you say?" Glinda asked, her face going even paler than it already was.

"Oh! Uh…book! I said 'book'! I was thinking about the Grimmerie. Where is it? We need to make sure that if he attacks again, he can't get at it."

"Under the mattress," said the sorceress.

"Honestly, that's the first place they would look," said Elphaba as she lifted the mattress from the frame of the bed to pull out the thick book of spells. She looked under the bed once more. "You want to stop the Tin Man? Help us, then. You know information about him, you can help us stop him and your fellow Winkies."

"I… I don't know."

"The risk may be great, that much must be admitted," she said. "But this could save many lives. If you don't, this could mean the downfall of Oz. You'd be forced to live in slavery your entire life."

"I…"

"You said your brother was a victim of this man. Don't you want to help avenge him?"

Silence. Finally, the girl responded. "I'll do it. I'll help you."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" said Glinda defensively. "I've hardly even agreed to work with you, and already you're bringing more people into this? Fae, I don't know who you are, but I do know one thing: you're getting on my nerves. And I don't like it when people get on my nerves. I'm the one in power here! So just stop trying to take control of this situation!"

"Glinda," said Elphaba with unnatural patience. "You know you need help. The very fact that you would stay in a castle that was under siege and hide that book instead of using it to protect yourself and your position of power shows that you need an advisor in this situation. Now either you put your enormous ego aside, or we can just leave you to your own devices and see how well you cope!"

Glinda let out a huff. "You know, Fae, you remind me of someone."

"I figured I would." A wave of confusion jumped onto Glinda's face.

"What's your name?" asked Fiyero, whose head Glinda had sewn back onto his shoulders. "We can't continue just calling you 'girl.'"

"Jessanine," the girl said. "But everyone calls me Jessa."

Three hearts nearly stopped.

"Okay, now that's really creepy," said Glinda, looking back and forth between Jessa and Elphaba in puzzlement.

"What is?" asked Jessa, at a loss.

"Now you both remind me of someone."

"Someones," corrected Jessa.

"What?" asked Glinda.

"Someones. We remind you of two someones. Unless we both remind you of the same person, that is."

"Um… yeah," said Glinda. "You confuse me. But anyway, you're right I suppose - you remind me of two people."

"I remind you of two people or Fae and I each remind you of one person?"

"I… you… oh whatever!"

Elphaba sighed and looked at Fiyero. "This is going to be a long journey." Still, Elphaba had to admit that it was a bit strange how much Jessa and Nessa sounded alike.

"So…what exactly do you want me to do?" asked Jessa.

"Oh, you know, go spy on him some more," said Glinda. "Figure out a way to undermine him."

"I can't go back there! Not now! He'll kill me!"

"Exactly," said Elphaba, glaring at Glinda. "You know, you remind me of someone too, Glinda. It almost feels as though we knew each other in a past life."

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	6. Chapter 6

Fiyero: ok YOU'RE doing the a/n

Fiyero: dont even ask me about it

**Authors' Note:** Ding dong the fic is dead…Which old fic? This Wicked fic! Ding dong the Wicked fic is dead…

Okay, so we've been neglecting this poor fic for a while, but for good reasons. Yes. Very good reasons. First of all, we both went to New York and saw Wicked, and then when we got back we were both…distracted. With…other things. Yes. Good reasons. But now it is alive again. Yay.

We hope you enjoy this chapter. Or at least I do, since Drew is not in any way responsible for this a/n.

=P Michelle

Chapter 6

"He's not going to just stand down there and wait for me, you know," said Jessa nervously. "He's going to send more troops up eventually. Or…"

"Or what?" asked Glinda.

"I don't know. But he'll think of something…"

"We need to think of something too," said Elphaba. "We need a plan of some sort if we're to stop Bo - the Tin Man."

"Like what?" asked the blonde ruler. "There's nothing we can do. If we escape, they'll find a way in and kill everyone in the Emerald City. If we stay here, they'll kill us too and get the Grimmerie."

Fiyero looked at Elphaba. "She has a point."

"Ah, but that's the trouble with your plans," said Elphaba, turning to Glinda.

"What is?" asked Glinda, looking puzzled.

"Both of your plans involve leaving them alone. We can't win that way."

"What else _can _we do?" wailed Glinda. "We're powerless!"

"The ruler of Oz sniveling that she's powerless…" said Elphaba disgustedly. "I never thought I would live to see the day. Then again, the Wizard was no—"

Fiyero elbowed her hard in the ribs, and she fell silent with a sharp intake of breath.

"What?" asked Glinda again, more urgently this time.

"What _Fae_was trying to tell you," said Fiyero pointedly, "is that we need to find some way to beat them while they're still here in the city."

"And that would be…how?"

"We could take all the suits of armor out of the castle," suggested Jessa, pointing at the one in the corner. "If we put them on and attack them, maybe we'll have a chance."

"There are too many," said Elphaba quickly. "They'd cut through us smooth as butter."

Glinda flinched at the graphic analogy.

"I could go out and try to stall them," suggested Fiyero. "They can't hurt me."

"No," said Elphaba again, before anyone else had a chance to speak. "I'm not going to let you take a risk like that."

Glinda cleared her throat uncomfortably.

Glinda cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Well, Fae, if you know so much, why don't you devise a plan?"

"I'm thinking…" Elphaba massaged her temples.

"Why is he doing this? Why would the Tin Man want to come to the Emerald City? He has nothing against us, does he?" Glinda plopped down on the bed, spreading her large skirt out around her.

Elphaba suddenly froze. "Dear sweet Oz…" She grabbed Fiyero's straw arm and pulled him aside. "Did I ever tell you about what happened? With Nessa and Boq? Who the Tin Man really is?"

"What?" asked Fiyero.

"Well nevermind, I can't tell you the whole story here…she'll find out. But…suffice it to say that the Tin Man is someone you and I knew and loved."

"Dr. Dillamond?" asked Fiyero blankly.

Elphaba stamped her foot irritably, causing everyone else in the room to jump.

"No! You really are brainless…"

"E—"

Elphaba clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Don't mind him," she told the others, too cheerfully. "All that straw, you know, gets in the way of his thoughts at times."

She turned back to him. "Boq," she hissed. "I turned him into the Tin Man - but I had a good excuse! It's a long story… but basically, Glinda, Nessa, and I wrecked Boq's life… That's why he's hear… he wants to get revenge on Glinda - he's already had his 'revenge' on Nessa and I - he thinks we're both dead. If Glinda dies…"

"…he'll feel his revenge is completed," finished Fiyero. "But how do we explain this to Glinda without revealing everything?"

"We don't. At least not for now."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" asked Fiyero.

Elphaba looked at the floor for a moment, chewing absently on her thumbnail. Then suddenly she smiled.

"I have it."

"What?" asked Jessa.

"As someone I used to know would say, 'a little change in the weather.'"

Boq the Tin Man was not a happy camper. He was not a camper of any kind, for that matter, seeing as how a sudden rain would make him rust beyond recognition; still, he thought the old figure of speech fit his current mood rather well. He had sent the girl up the castle wall more than half an hour ago. She was not back yet, and judging from the relative quiet inside the building, she had not yet managed to kill anyone or do any damage. Boq sighed and impatiently drummed his fingers on the hilt of his axe.

"That's what I get for trusting a girl," he thought aloud. "Little girls don't kill - not intentionally anyway. How could I have been such a fool?" He lifted his axe and threw it, watching it slice through the air and cut into the ground.

A low rumble could be heard overhead. The Tin Man looked up at the skies and saw dark clouds gathering quickly over the Emerald City. "Curses!" he cried. He walked over to his axe and pulled it from the ground. "Cover… I need to take cover before this storm hits!" He looked around frantically, but all he saw close by were fields of the impossibly-green grass, the emerald walls of the castle, a few buildings, all locked up, and hundreds of Winkies standing around lazily. He knew they would do nothing until he ordered them to. No one knew whether Winkies were too stupid to act on their own, or just plain lazy, but they never did anything unless someone of greater power told them to.

"If I leave," he muttered, "then I'll have to leave the castle unguarded. With the girl inside."

The thought did not suit him well. Since he had not seen any immediate results, he was not inclined to trust the girl. In fact, he thought, she was probably in there making alliances with them. That was the problem with little girls—well, one of them anyway. They were too stupid to get any job done right.

"Or too smart…" he groaned irritably.

Someone cleared their throat from behind him and Boq turned to find a middle-aged man fidgeting with his hat, eyes cast downwards. "Um, uh, Highness, there's a, um, a storm comin' and you need to find some shelter if you don't, uh, want to rust."

Boq looked at the man as though he had just said the most obvious thing in the world - which he had.

"And where do you suppose I should take shelter?"

The man continued to fidget, looking increasingly more uncomfortable at the attention he was being paid.

"Well, uh, there's a big building over there - a library, I think - and it's not closed up like the others."

Boq cringed at the thought of all those books. To him books would always mean school, and school meant Shiz. And Shiz meant only two things in his mind: Glinda. And revenge.

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